Editing 1980 in American television (section)

==Events==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date || Event
|-
|January 1
|In [[Dayton, Ohio]], the decade begins with an affiliation swap between [[NBC]] affiliate [[WDTN]] and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WKEF-TV]]; the swap is reversed in 2004.
|-
|January 25
|[[Black Entertainment Television]] launches in the United States as a block of programming on the [[USA Network]]; it won't be until 1983 that [[BET]] becomes a full-fledged channel.
|-
|February 1
|After 29 years on the air, the [[soap opera]] ''[[Love of Life]]'' airs its 7,316th and last episode on [[CBS]].
|-
|February 3
|''Bob Hope's Overseas Christmas Tours'', a two-part six-hour retrospective of [[Bob Hope]]'s more than 30 years of entertaining at military bases and hospitals in the U.S. and abroad, airs on [[NBC]].
|-
|February 4
|On [[CBS]], ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'' airs its first one-hour long episode.
|-
|February 8
|[[Eric Braeden]] makes his first appearance as [[Victor Newman]] on ''[[The Young and the Restless]]''.
|-
|February 11
|[[CBS]] broadcasts a [[In Concert (WKRP in Cincinnati)|very special episode]] of the sitcom ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'' about the real life [[The Who concert disaster|deadly gate-rushing incident]] that occurred at [[Heritage Bank Center|Riverfront Coliseum]] in [[Cincinnati]] on December 3, 1979 prior to a performance by [[The Who]].
|-
|February 14
|On [[CBS News|CBS]], [[Walter Cronkite]] announces his retirement from the ''[[CBS Evening News]]'', which takes effect in March 1981.
|-
|February 22
|[[ABC Olympic broadcasts|ABC Sports]] announcer [[Al Michaels]] delivers his now immortal line "Do you believe in [[Miracle on Ice|miracles]]?! Yes!" in the closing moments of the [[1980 Winter Olympics|Winter Olympic]] [[Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics|medal-round men's ice hockey]] game between the [[United States men's national ice hockey team|United States]] team and the heavily favored [[Soviet Union national ice hockey team|Soviet team]]. 
|-
|February 24
|[[Polly Holliday]] makes her [[Alice (season 4)|final appearance]] as Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on ''[[Alice (American TV series)|Alice]]''. Holliday would continue playing Flo in the character's [[Flo (TV series)|own spin-off]], which aired on [[CBS]] for two seasons.
|-
|March 16
|The first regularly scheduled use of [[closed captioning]] on American network television occurs on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], with captions of spoken dialogue added to programming received through a decoding unit attached to a standard TV set.<ref>Gannon, Jack. 1981. ''Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America'', Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 384–387 ([http://saveourdeafschools.org/Deaf_Heritage_by_Jack_Gannon_pages_384-387.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424042033/http://saveourdeafschools.org/Deaf_Heritage_by_Jack_Gannon_pages_384-387.pdf |date=2012-04-24 }})</ref> The first broadcast to use it was the 1977 movie [[Semi-Tough]].
|-
|March 21
|On the season finale of ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' on [[CBS]], [[J. R. Ewing]] is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the [[catchphrase]] "[[Who shot J.R.?]]".
|-
|March 24
|The [[Late night television in the United States|late night]] [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] program ''[[Iran hostage crisis|The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage]]'' is officially rechristened as ''[[Nightline]]''.
|-
|March 24
|[[WVTV-DT2|WCGV-TV]] signs on the air as an [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]] in [[Milwaukee]]. It went on to affiliate first with Fox in 1987, then to [[List of former UPN affiliates|UPN]] in 1995 and finally [[List of MyNetworkTV affiliates|MyNetworkTV]] in 2006. It was shut down in 2018.
|-
|March 31
|In [[Jacksonville, Florida]], [[NBC]] affiliate [[WTLV]], in search of stronger programming, swaps affiliations with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WCWJ|WJKS]]. The swap will be reversed in 1988.
|-
|April 5
|''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'' airs its series finale on [[CBS]]. 
|-
|April 7
|''[[The Oldest Living Graduate]]'', a live drama on [[NBC]], is broadcast; the first such program on the network since 1962. The production is aired from [[Southern Methodist University]] and stars [[Henry Fonda]], [[George Grizzard]], and [[Cloris Leachman]].
|-
|April 9
|The Madison Square Garden Sports Network is officially rechristened as the [[USA Network]].
|-
|April 11
|[[WMDT]] in [[Salisbury, Maryland]] signs on, giving the [[Delmarva Peninsula]] market its first full-time [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate. It also takes [[WBOC-TV]]'s secondary [[NBC]] affiliation, leaving WBOC-TV as a full-time [[CBS]] affiliate.
|-
|April 19
|Actor [[Strother Martin]] [[List of Saturday Night Live guests|guest hosts]] [[Saturday Night Live season 5|an episode]] of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in what turns out to be his final television appearance prior to his death on August 1, 1980.
|-
|April 29
|The [[1980 NFL draft|NFL draft]] is televised for the first time on [[ESPN]].
|-
|May 6
|[[Ron Howard]] (Richie Cunningham) and [[Donny Most]] (Ralph Malph) leave the cast of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Happy Days]]'' as regulars, following the episode "Ralph's Family Problem". When ''Happy Days'' returns in the fall, [[Henry Winkler]] (The Fonz) is given top billing in the opening credits.
|-
|May 10
|[[Al Franken]] delivers his "[[A Limo for a Lame-O]]" commentary on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. During the ''[[Weekend Update]]'' segment, Franken attacked network president [[Fred Silverman]] for [[NBC]]'s poor showing in the [[Nielsen ratings]] during his tenure.
|-
|May 11
|''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|The Return of the King]]'', an [[Animation|animated]] adaptation of the third and final volume of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], airs on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] after a legal challenge filed by the [[Tolkien Estate]] and [[Fantasy Films]] was settled.<ref name="Solomon">{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Charles |title=Lawsuit Threatened Showing of 'Return of the King' |access-date=June 16, 2020 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385277116 |url-access=subscription |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=May 10, 1980 |department=Part II |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/image/385277116 5], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/385277196/ 10] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
|-
|rowspan="2"|May 24
|[[NBC]] airs [[The Not Ready For Prime Time Players]]' [[Saturday_Night_Live_(season_5)#Episodes|final episode]] on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', after five seasons.
|-
|[[NHL on CBS|CBS]] broadcasts Game 6 of the [[1980 Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup Finals]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Sports Industry and Collective Bargaining|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQGCAAAAMAAJ&q=1980+Stanley+Cup+Finals+on+CBS|author=Paul D. Staudohar|page=140|year=1989|publisher=ILR Press |isbn=9780875461519}}</ref> between the [[1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers season|Philadelphia Flyers]] and the [[1979–80 New York Islanders season|New York Islanders]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Goring Finds His Paradise|author=Francis Rosa|newspaper=Boston Globe|page=1|date=May 18, 1980}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Scorecard|url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Scorecard+-+06.16.80+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431272542&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1123518%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881|author=Jerry Kirshenbaum|magazine=Sports Illustrated|publisher=Time Inc.|date=June 16, 1980}}</ref> The Saturday afternoon game is the first full [[American network television|American network]] telecast of an NHL game since Game 5 of the [[1975 Stanley Cup Finals]] aired on [[NHL on NBC|NBC]], and the last NHL game on American network television until NBC televises the [[41st National Hockey League All-Star Game|1990 All-Star Game]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Around the NHL|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=March 29, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='American Sportsman' makes strong comeback|author=Rachel Shuster|newspaper=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Company|page=3C|date=March 29, 1989}}</ref>
|-
|June 1
|The [[Cable News Network]] (CNN) begins broadcasting.
|-
|rowspan="2"|June 20
|''[[Hollywood Squares]]'' presents its 3,536th and final network telecast on [[NBC]], ending a 14-year [[NBC Daytime|daytime]] run; it remains the second-longest-running daytime game show in the network's history, behind the original 1958–73 run of ''[[Concentration (game show)|Concentration]]''. Two other NBC game shows, ''[[High Rollers]]'' and ''[[Chain Reaction (game show)|Chain Reaction]]'', end their runs on this date as well.
|-
|[[Vanna White]] makes her first appearance on a game show via ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]'', in which she was among the first four contestants.<ref>{{Cite episode |series=[[The Price Is Right|The Price Is Right (American game show)]] |network=[[CBS]]|date=June 20, 1980 |season=8 |number=186|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=ieISImBYae8|title=Vanna White on The Price Is Right (1980)}}</ref> She did not make it onstage, but the clip of her running to [[Contestants' Row]] was rebroadcast as part of ''The Price Is Right 25th Anniversary Special'' in August 1996<ref>{{YouTube|id=-Lw_YsccLEU|title=The Price Is Right's 25th Anniversary Special (08/23/1996)}}</ref> and also was featured on the special broadcast ''Game Show Moments Gone Bananas''. 
|-
|June 23
|''[[The David Letterman Show]]'' debuts on [[NBC]]. [[David Letterman|Letterman]]'s humor does not go over well with a morning audience, and the show is canceled in October. Letterman would stay at NBC and go on to host a [[Late Night with David Letterman|late night show]] on the network two years later.
|-
|June 30
|The [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] game show ''[[Family Feud]]'' moves from airing at 11:30 am ET to 12:00 noon. It is one of the few network daytime shows to survive at noon, a time slot where many stations preempt network fare for local news broadcasts.
|-
|July 21
|At 2:00 am EST, the actors unions [[Screen Actors Guild|SAG]] and [[AFTRA]] launch [[1980 actors strike|a three-month strike]] against television and movie studios; they would be joined by musicians' union [[American Federation of Musicians|AFM]] a few days after. The primary reason was for residuals in new home media outlets, such as [[Videotape|videocassettes]], and in emerging cable television. The strike is the first time both unions went on strike at the same time, greatly delaying US networks' fall seasons by several weeks.
|-
|rowspan="2"|August 1
|Ending a failed experiment, the [[NBC]] soap opera ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'' airs its last regularly scheduled ninety-minute episode. The show returns to sixty minutes on August 4, allowing room for a spin-off, ''[[Texas (TV series)|Texas]]'', based around [[Beverlee McKinsey|Beverlee Mckinsey's]] ''Another World'' character, Iris Cory Carrington.
|-
|The 24/7 cable movie network [[Cinemax]] launches.
|-
|August 28
|[[Joan Lunden]] makes her debut as co-host of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Good Morning America]]'' alongside [[David Hartman (TV personality)|David Hartman]]. Lunden, who was succeeding [[Sandy Hill (television personality)|Sandy Hill]], would remain on the program through 1997.   
|-
|September 1
|In [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], long-time [[NBC]] affiliate [[WSB-TV]] swaps affiliations with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WXIA-TV]], citing a stronger affiliation (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks). Over the summer, in preparation for the switch, both stations had conducted an experiment unusual for a market Atlanta's size: WXIA-TV aired NBC's daytime programs in the morning and ABC's afternoon programs, and vice versa for WSB-TV.
|-
|September 7
|The [[32nd Primetime Emmy Awards|Primetime Emmy Awards]] air on [[NBC]]. In a show of support for [[1980 actors strike|the ongoing strike]] by [[Screen Actors Guild|SAG]], [[American Federation of Television and Radio Artists|AFTRA]], and [[American Federation of Musicians|AFM]], 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotted the event.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-strike18dec18,0,34482.story
|title=Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien to return to the air Jan. 2|first=Matea
|last=Gold
|author2=Maria Elena Fernandez and Richard Verrier
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times
|date=2007-12-18}}</ref> [[Powers Boothe]] was the only nominated actor to attend.
|-
|September 15–19
|The five–part [[historical drama]] [[Television miniseries|miniseries]] ''[[Shōgun (1980 miniseries)|Shōgun]]'' is broadcast on [[NBC]].
|-
|September 21
|[[Screen Actors Guild|SAG]] and [[AFTRA]] come to a tentative agreement with studios to end [[1980 actors strike|the actors strike]]. Voting on the agreement within both unions took place throughout the next few weeks, being ratified by October 23.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|date=October 8, 1980|title=Striking musicians picketed seven major studios again Wednesday as...|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/10/08/Striking-musicians-picketed-seven-major-studios-again-Wednesday-as/5592339825600/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908041341/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/10/08/Striking-musicians-picketed-seven-major-studios-again-Wednesday-as/5592339825600/|archive-date=September 8, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2025|website=[[United Press International]]|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|September 28
|The [[PBS]] documentary ''[[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]]'', hosted by legendary astronomer [[Carl Sagan]], premieres. It deals with scientific topics like biology, chemistry, and linguistics, but primarily focuses on astronomy, Sagan's field of study.
|-
|October 4
|[[Bob Costas]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cooperstowncred.com/hall-famer-bob-costas-greatest-game-calls/|title=HALL OF FAMER BOB COSTAS' GREATEST GAME CALLS|last=Bodig|first=Chris|date=July 27, 2018|website=Cooperstown Cred}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sabrmedia.org/databases/network-tv-broadcasts/searchable-network-tv-broadcasts/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133744/http://sabrmedia.org/databases/network-tv-broadcasts/searchable-network-tv-broadcasts/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-04-18|title=SEARCHABLE NETWORK TV BROADCASTS|website=sabrmedia.org}}</ref> makes his debut calling [[Major League Baseball]] games for [[Major League Baseball on NBC|NBC]]. It was a backup game (the primary game involved the [[1980 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]] and [[1980 Montreal Expos season|Montreal Expos]]) involving the [[1980 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] and [[1980 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]] from [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]].
|-
|October 20
|[[Piedmont Triad]] [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]] WGNN-TV changes its name to [[WXLV-TV|WJTM-TV]] following its purchase by [[TVX Broadcast Group]], to avoid confusion with [[WGN-TV]].
|-
|October 26
|[[KOKI-TV]] signs on the air as an [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]] in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]].
|-
|October 28
|[[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Jimmy Carter]] participate in their sole [[1980 United States presidential debates|presidential debate]]. It was the most watched [[United States presidential debates|presidential debate]] until [[2016 United States presidential debates|2016]].
|-
|November 2
|The [[CBS]] comedy ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]'' begins its season with the episode "Archie Alone", in which [[Archie Bunker]] grieves over the death of wife [[Edith Bunker|Edith]] (prompted by [[Jean Stapleton]]'s departure from the series). [[Carroll O'Connor]]'s performance in this episode earns him a [[Peabody Award]].
|-
|November 15
|''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' premiers its [[Saturday Night Live (season 6)|sixth season]] on [[NBC]] with a new cast and new writers under the reins of [[Lorne Michaels]]' replacement [[Jean Doumanian]], to widespread negative reviews.
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|rowspan="3"|November 18
|''[[Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters]]'' ([[Barbara Mandrell|Barbara]], [[Louise Mandrell|Louise]] and [[Irlene Mandrell]]) makes its debut on [[NBC]], with a special guest appearance by [[Dolly Parton]]. The show was the last variety show on network TV with over 40&nbsp;million viewers.
|-
|The start of [[Laverne & Shirley season 6|Season 6]] of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Laverne & Shirley]]'' sees the titular characters relocating from [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin to [[Burbank, California]] after losing their brewery jobs.
|-
|[[Suzanne Somers]] makes her final "full" appearance in [[List of Three's Company episodes#Season 5 .281980.E2.80.9381.29|an episode]] of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Three's Company]]''. Her remaining seven appearances would be cameos in the episode's closing tag in which [[List of Three's Company characters#Chrissy Snow|Chrissy]] would call from her parents' home in [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] to speak with Jack or Janet, who would sometimes fill Chrissy in on what happened in the episode.
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|rowspan="2"|November 19
|[[CBS]] bans a controversial [[Brooke Shields]] [[Calvin Klein (company)|Calvin Klein Jeans]] ad because, according to CBS, the commercial was ‘too suggestive.’ The ad featured the 15-year-old Shields saying: ‘You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.’
|-
|[[Nancy McKeon]] makes her debut as [[List of The Facts of Life characters#Jo Polniaczek|Jo Polniaczek]] in the [[List of The Facts of Life episodes#Season 2 (1980–81)|Season 2]] premiere of ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]'' on [[NBC]].
|-
|November 20
|[[Donna Mills]] makes her [[List_of_Knots_Landing_episodes#Season_2_(1980–81)|first appearance]] as the [[List_of_soap_opera_villains#Knots_Landing|villainous]] [[Abby Cunningham]] on the [[CBS]] prime time [[soap opera]] ''[[Knots Landing]]''.
|-
|November 21
|The mystery of "Who Shot [[J. R. Ewing|J.R.]]?" is solved on ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]''; the revelation that [[Sue Ellen Ewing]]'s sister [[Kristin Shepard]] (played by [[Mary Crosby]]) was responsible draws a record number of viewers.
|-
|rowspan="2"|November 22
|[[Eddie Murphy]] made his first ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' [[Saturday Night Live (season 6)|appearance]], appearing in a non-speaking role in the sketch "In Search Of The Negro Republican".
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|[[WPDE-TV]] in [[Florence, South Carolina]] signs on, giving the [[Pee Dee]] market its first full-time [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate.
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|November 30
|[[Tanya Roberts]] joins the cast of ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'' (replacing the departed [[Shelley Hack]]) for what would be its [[Charlie's Angels (season 5)|final season]].
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|December 8
|On [[ESPN on ABC|ABC]], [[Howard Cosell]] announces [[Murder of John Lennon|the murder]] of former [[The Beatles|Beatle]] [[John Lennon]] in the closing seconds of a ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' game between the [[1980 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] and [[1980 New England Patriots season|New England Patriots]]. [[NBC]] also reports the murder of Lennon, interrupting ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' for a news bulletin.
|-
|December 20
|[[NFL on NBC|NBC Sports]] broadcasts the [[1980 New York Jets season|New York Jets]] 24–17 season-ending victory over the [[1980 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] [[Announcerless game|without announcers]], the only time that has ever been done with an [[National Football League|NFL]] game.
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|December 24
|[[WSWG (TV)|WVGA]] in [[Valdosta, Georgia]] signs-on the air and targets the neighboring [[Albany, Georgia|Albany]] market, giving that market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
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|December 30
|After 26 years on the air, 20 of which were on [[NBC]], the network announces that the long-running anthology ''[[Walt Disney anthology series|Disney's Wonderful World]]'' will not be on its fall 1981 schedule; however, the show will be picked up by [[CBS]].
|}